Some Like it Hot: Triple Creme Cheese Laughs at "Mild"

Alta Langa’s Il Canet (the cane)

As Marilyn Monroe demonstrated in a plunging neckline and a shimmy, some like it hot. Triple cremes do too.

Triple creme cheese loves heat.

While it's long been thought that the ideal pairing for a cheese as seemingly rich as cultured butter is Champagne, triple creme cheese has broad pairing abilities. Cloaked in a white bloomy-rind jacket with a creamy paste, triples are friendly. Open. Undiscriminating in pairing sessions. They like to play with others.

They snuggle up to what others fear being sat next to on a cheese plate.

Bring on the pepper jellies and spice.

Triple creme and jelly

If you're someone that laughs when someone asks you if you want your curry "mild," this is your pairing.

What is a triple creme?  Some might say heaven. Others might say delicious. Both are correct. More specifically...

A triple creme is a cheese whose butterfat content is 75%. Never fear, this is the percentage of fat in dry matter, meaning that because triples are so young and full of whey, which the FDA doesn't measure, the butterfat is actually lower than it sounds. Read more here.

Because it's so soft and creamy and rich, the butterfat in a triple creme wraps itself around piquant flavors, soothing any abrasive notes, and snuggles up to heat like a toddler does a blankie.

You know what cheese doesn't do this? A blue cheese. Fair warning.

As the butterfat assuages the spiciness, it is also highlights other nuances in what it's paired with. Blackberry and pepper? Expect a light berrylicious hit. Classic pepper jelly? You're about to marry chile to sugar to butter. Mostarda? Brace yourself.

I adore triples and sparkling or triples and a Belgian double. But when I want to try something different, I remember that some like it hot.

The beautiful triple featured above is Ragged Point from Stepladder Creamery, a new California dairy that's already captured my heart. Never becoming oozy, It turns more buttery and sweet with age. Some of my favorite spicy picks paired with this triple are below! In no particular order.

Pepper Jellies & Spice

Mousquetaire Black Cherry & Espelette Jam: A classic pairing for the region's Basque sheep's milk wheel, I like to drizzle a bit of this back cherry and pepper jam over my favorite butterbombs.

Bonnie's Jams Red Pepper Jelly: Clean and classic. If you like it super hot, try their blackberry pepper jelly- but pair lightly, it goes far (a dollop was bit too strong for my mild tastebuds). My favorite Bonnie's is their tried and true southern staple, red pepper jelly. Beautiful. Side note- their Raspberry Lime Rickey was amazing with Ragged Point.

Grace & I Chipotle Carrots & Ghost Pepper Jelly: Brined carrots with heat. Layer textures by adding a crunch to your creamy cheese. Ghost Pepper Jelly is great, and... as hot as it sounds.

Mostarda Mediterranea: Italian candied fruit plus mustard oil creates a fierce pairing happily countered with a triple or cheddar. Serve with ciabatta or a rustic baguette.

KL Keller Basque Pepper Honey: As evidenced with this and the first pick, the Basque region can take a little heat. Wonderful with cheese that tastes like butter, and also good in a grilled cheese sandwich.

Thank you for the samples, Bonnie's Jams!

Rauchbiere Triple Whammy: Pairing Smoke & Cream

Like Mike Reis, educator and beer writer at Serious Eats, discusses in Smoked Beers: Your Secret Weapon for Beer Pairing, I detested my first sip of rauchbiere (smoked beer). And my second. And my fifth.

Smoked beer, made with smoked rather than toasted barley malt, is a force. Some of it tastes as light as the breeze wafting by on spring day after a neighbor lights a bbq. Some taste like they have been vigorously stirred with a just-charred stick. And others unabashedly flaunt their resemblance to a late-night camp fire pit that's just been doused with a bucket of water before folks retire to their tents.

That is to say that it has quite a presence. Beer used to all be made this way. Prior to the days of electricity, propane, or coal, all barley was cooked (and inadvertently, smoked) over open flames, so it all had a smoky note to it. Now people make smoked beer as a nod to those days, or because they genuinely like the flavor. Admittedly, that "genuinely like the flavor" part is hard for some to grasp. Because my first and second sip of it made me think more "ashtray" than "artisan" or "lost art," I can understand why. But now, my friends, I'm a believer. And a drinker.

I like smoked beer. Especially with triple-creme cheese. 

A few months after my fifth unappreciated taste of the smoked one, I picked up a rauchbiere that pleased me. Though I wasn't sure I would finish a second bottle, I sensed skill in the subtle smoky application, and definitely finished the first bottle. Then I saw Reis's article Smoked Beers: Your Secret Weapon for Beer Pairing in which he talked about how anyone could grow to love a smoked beer with the right food pairing. And what my friends, is the right food pairing? Cheese! Always, cheese!

Because he suggested pairing rauchbiere with heavy, smoky foods, grill-ables, or rich, sweet foods like pie, I thought, hey, maybe a triple creme would work. It's in-your-face rich, sweet, and, I thought, might be able to stand up to the ferocity that is a smoked beer.

So when teaching a "Perfect Pairings" class at The Cheese School of San Francisco, I decided to test this theory. Reis helped me select the lightly smoked beauty above, because, well, I had no idea what I was doing. The Schlenkerla It's a lightly smoked, wheat, marzen beer.

The class loved the pairing. Not all of them liked the rauchbiere immediately on its own, but even those that didn't liked it with the triple creme. I guess 75% butterfat helps make even the smokiest of ( delicious) medicine go down. And those whose favorite style of cheese wasn't a triple liked the buttery wheel better with the beer. Together they tasted like… smoky ice cream, which I can tell you, is pretty darn impressive.

The triple we chose that day was Brillat Savarin. Creme fraiche is added the whole milk when the cheese is made, hence amping up the butterfat factor to a velvety 75%. Other triples I'd turn to are: Nancy's Camembert, Delice de Bourgogne, Mt Tam, Kunik, or… do you have any ideas for this pairing? 

Next time you're heading to a bbq, think of picking up a couple rauchebieres for your party. One to try with the grill-ables, and another, to serve with a creamy cheese for a triple-whammy pairing.

Sparkling Wine & Cheese Pairing: A Class Guide

Last night I taught one of my favorite classes ever at the Cheese School of San Francisco- Cremes & Bubblies, and in its honor, I'm creating a guide to pairing sparkling and creamy cheese. Why was it one my favorite classes? Two reasons. One, I love cremes and bubbles. Separate, together, at a dinner table, at a party, on the side of the road, however, wherever. Two, I loved this class because the students were into it.

The first sign of whether students are going to be down with the class is if they laugh at the name of my blog. These guys did- hearty chuckles. If they don't, I know it's going to be a loooooong night, and it's very likely my jokes will fall flat. But these guys didn't just assuage my fragile ego by making me feel funny, they asked questions, they commented on flavors rather than starring at me questioningly when asked "what do you taste?," they contributed fun information to the class, and they ate and drank like pros. As a side note, I also attribute the class's success to listening to Def Leopard while crossing the Bay Bridge to teach- I was inspired, and the students felt it. Do you want to get rocked? Why yes, yes I do (get those cheese class engines revving!).

In short, it's hard to get a bad pairing with bubbles and cremes. Cremes are creamy, soft cheeses that are high in moisture and taste especially rich. If you nibble on them with a sparkling, you've got a win-win situation- the bubbles (like the carbonation in beer) and the acidity in wines like Champagne help cut the fat in the cheese and uplift the pairing experience. I always imagine the bubbles wrapping themselves around the creamy cheese molecules and taking them to a happy place, like cheese heaven. Truth be told,  it's hard to fall flat when matching bubbles to creamy cheeses, almost everything tastes at least good. But some pairings are much better then others. Below I divulge the pairings in the class that were the favorites, and why they worked to create a light and easy pairing guide for sparklings.

A 4-Step Guide to Sparkling and Cheese Pairings

1. Light, lively cheeses like light, lively bubbles.

La Tur (cow, sheep and goat) from Piedmont Italy, and Crémont (goat and cow) with Prosecco. When you have goat cheese, think light, low-oak, and unoaked sparklings. Proseccos. Cavas. If you don't know if they're low oak or un-oaked, ask your wine salesperson. You can go fruity, but don't go bold and heavy with your wine. Your spunky little goat cheese or milk blends like to shine without heavy oak getting in the way.

2. Richer cremes like richer wines.

Nettle Meadow Kunik (triple creme cow, sheep and goat) and Brillat-Savarin (triple cow) with cremants or Champagnes. Cremants are sparklings made in the Champagne Method that are not from the Champagne region. They age in barrels, accumulate a light creamy, yeasty flavor. Champagnes generally (but not always) achieve a greater creamy, yeasty flavor and have more acidity than cremants. When I'm pairing creamy triples with sparkling, I either go cremant or Champange. Cremants are less expensive, so I often go there. When triple cremes are still clean-flavored and buttery like Kunik and Cremont, you don't need the richness and earthiness of Champagne.

3. Sultry cheeses like sultry, full-bodied, earthy Champagnes.

Old Chatham Nancy's Camembert (sheep and cow) and Bent River Camembert with Champagne. A full-bodied champagne is yeasty, toasty, creamy, earthy, sometimes mushroomy. They replicate what's going on with these cheeses. Sheep's milk cheese? Earthy, buttery, toasty. Camembert? Earthy, yeasty, mushroomy. These are easy pairing matches made in heaven. It's also possible to get an earthy cremant if you don't feeling like dishing out the dough for a Champagne- ask your winemonger, they should be able to direct your choice.

4. Washed rind creamies with rosés.

Rush Creek Reserve (cow) and Pont L'Eveque (cow) with sparkling rosés. This is a pairing inspired by the regional Époisses and Burgundy pairing. The stinky washed rind Époisses is traditionally matched with a Pinot Noir, so when I think of other creamy washed rinds, I let this guide me. A rosés light red fruit goes with the washed rind funk. Most sparking rosés are going to be heavy on the Pinot, but a rosé need not be Pinot Noir to pair well. But it helps.

Lastly, I'm teaching a class at the Cheese School that I'm super excited about. Southern Cheese & Spirits in March. I'm very excited about it. Think artisan cheese, paired to southern beer and .... moonshine. If you're in the SF area, please come! Geek out and feel the moonshine burn with me.